National contractor Shepherd Construction has been awarded a £17 million contract to deliver the first phase of a new campus development on behalf of University College Birmingham (UCB).

Work is scheduled to begin this December and will see Shepherd Construction deliver a new 7,592m² teaching facility that will enable UCB to continue with its vision for modern learning environments for the further education and higher education courses it offers. This first phase development is for both Postgraduate and Undergraduate teaching.

The development will replace a number of unoccupied buildings and a car park on Charlotte Street and Holland Street in Birmingham's city centre, in a conservation area on the edge of the historic Jewellery Quarter.  Designed over four floors, the new facility is set to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating and will include a dedicated Postgraduate Centre, teaching spaces including three lecture theatres, a 24 hour study hub and a 200 seater café.

The architect on the scheme is Associated Architects, cost consultant is Gleeds, EC Harris providing project management, Couch Consulting Engineers providing structural services and Couch, Perry & Wilkes providing mechanical and electrical consultancy for the client, UCB.

Peter Millett, Shepherd Construction's managing director for the West Division commented: "We're delighted to have been awarded this contract and look forward to working closely with UCB to help deliver their vision for a modern city centre campus. We are due on-site in a couple of weeks and the project is scheduled to complete in June 2013."

Professor Ray Linforth, Principal, University College Birmingham said: "The appointment of Shepherd Construction marks another step closer for us in achieving our goal of providing additional excellent teaching and learning facilities at University College Birmingham. Shepherd's pitch for the work and their reputation in the construction industry, demonstrate their commitment to providing a quality service and a professional product and these are values which we align with very strongly. We have insisted on high levels of sustainability to be integral to the project including installation of photo voltaic solar panels, rain water harvesting, energy efficient lighting and high levels of heating insulation.   The contractor is required to achieve BREEAM 'Excellent' rating and EPC energy rating B, both indicating extremely high energy efficiency levels within the building".

The new contract comes just months after Shepherd Construction completed the £66 million new Bournville College at Longbridge. The contractor is also currently delivering £76 million of university projects across the UK and earlier this year completed four other university contracts worth £36.9 million.